I sigh, knowing I won’t win an argument against my mom. But in my mind, the truth is clear: Mom has already done her duty, and done it well. Now it’s my turn to push through.
CHAPTER 12
WILL
“Uncle Will, you’re not looking!”
I blink and look up from my bench only to notice both of my four-year-old nephews frowning at me from the top of the slide. I shake off whatever blank expression is stuck on my face and give them a big grin. “Sorry, boys! I’m looking, now. Let’s go!” With my encouragement, the twin boys grab hold of each other’s hands and make their way down the slide in a fit of laughter.
Their mood is contagious, making me chuckle. They were right; I hadn’t been watching a few moments before. Only because I’d been trapped in my own thoughts about last Friday’s meeting with Sophie.
An ache settles in my chest at the thought of Océane’s frail shoulders drooping in shame at the café on Friday. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel bad for coming up to see me. And yet …
No matter how hard I try, I always somehow manage to fumble things with her.
I cringe inwardly as I think back to my behaviour with Sophie after Océane left. Whatever positive feelings I’d brought with me had withered away faster than the leaves falling around theboys in the park. I don’t hold it against Sophie for thinking what she did about the nature of my relationship with Océane … because I didn’t have the courage to correct her. And my grumpy behaviour wouldn’t have helped her perception of me, either.
So far, this is going swimmingly.
Sophie. My heart pounds at the thought of her. At the way she nearly flinched when I asked her about Julian and the girls. I hate how little I know about their lives now. Before her separation from Matthew, I was at their house nearly three times a week—not that she seemed super pleased by that. But despite how hard-headed she can be, she always showed me, and my friendship with him, respect.
“UncleWill.” Corey drones on while his brother Cayce whines next to him. Both of them have black hair sticking up on their heads from running around the park.
“Okay, okay!” I chuckle as I get up from my bench to join them. “You boys just watch yourselves!” I break into a sprint, and the boys squeal as they start running around the playground. Pretty soon I’ve got them both in my arms, and they’re laughing and screaming with joy as they try to escape my grasp.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” A familiar voice echoes behind me, and I freeze. The boys keep writhing in my arms, but they stop when they realize my attention is elsewhere.
I turn my head back and see Sophie standing there in a trendy blazer-style jacket, fingers curled around the handle of a stroller. Her golden hair is gathered in two braids hanging in front of her chest, and her soft, full lips are twisted downward.
God, what I’d do to those lips if given the chance.
Gwen, who’s standing next to the stroller, breaks into a huge grin when she makes eye contact with me. “Oh my God, Mom! It’s Uncle Will!” Before her mother can stop her, she sprintstowards me and the boys and tackles my leg in a tight hug. “I haven’t seen you in so long!”
Her words tug at my heart. I missed this kid.
I meet Sophie’s gaze and mouthsorry. A confused look paints her face, right before it turns to what looks like annoyance. “What are you doing in this neighbourhood?” Her tone is polite, but her stormy eyes betray her true feelings.
I bend down to place the boys back on the ground and give Gwen’s head a light tap. “You’ve gotten so big!” Then I turn to Sophie and explain, “My sister Rachel lives in this area.” I gesture to Corey and Cayce. “These are my nephews.”
Surprise hits Sophie’s face. I don’t think she knew I had nephews. Matthew never really asked about them, so I never had a reason to talk about them when spending time with Matt and Sophie before. “Oh.” She seems to shake herself out of the shock of seeing me by fiddling with the inside of the stroller.
“Do you want to play with us?” Gwen asks the boys as she takes one step away from my legs. I delight in observing that she’s got her mother’s outgoing nature.
“Yes!” Cayce exclaims, and that’s all it takes for the three kids to run together back on the playground. I look back at Sophie, who’s now holding an antsy Heather in her arms. The toddler is squirming, likely wanting to get down as quickly as possible to join her sister and the boys.
My eyes widen at how much Heather has changed over the last year. Gwen got bigger too, sure, but the transformation is much more intense for little Heather. She’s confidently running towards the playground with glee, her father’s white-blonde hair trailing behind her in the wind, and I fondly recall her awkwardly toddling around on chubby legs last year.
By the time she has joined the other kids, Sophie has already taken Julian out of the stroller. From the looks of it, he’s in agood mood, and Sophie would probably be, too, if she hadn’t run into me here.
“Well, I guess this is happening, then,” she says flatly as she walks to get closer to the playground, still keeping her distance from me. I nod, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets as I turn to face her. A crisp autumn breeze dances through the air, tousling the hair sticking out from beneath my beanie. Dead leaves crunch under my boots as I shift.
Sophie makes herself comfortable on a bench facing the playground, settling Julian on her lap. His chubby hands immediately reach for the toy keys she holds up to distract him. I sit a respectable distance away on the same bench, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.
“So …” I shoot a glance her way. She doesn’t look at me. Instead, her focus is steadily on the kids. “How did the rest of the week go?”
“Fine,” she replies shortly, adjusting Julian as he squirms.
I nod and chew the inside of my cheek. I guess that’s all I’m going to get for now.
